Oct 24 1976
From The Space Library
Rockwell-Intl. Corp. inspectors testing their inventory of transistors after a government warning to watch for counterfeit semiconductors had found 11 of 11 transistors of one type to be fakes, the New York Times reported. Rockwell had concluded that bogus parts had been "unwittingly built into [NASA's] major current project, the Space Shuttle, for which Rockwell is the prime contractor." The NYT said that "a rash of discoveries of bogus devices" had plagued the electronics industry for the last year and a half.
The Defense Electronics Supply Center (DESC), a DOD agency that `procured almost all electronic devices for defense, found 20 of 60 components taken randomly from stock to be "suspect" and had returned them to the makers for tests to determine authenticity. "Counterfeit" components-devices altered physically to misrepresent their true type or quality, by relabeling, renumbering, or adding false reliability information or dating- would not necessarily be nonfunctional; however, as the purpose of the alteration would be to indicate falsely that a part had passed certain quality tests, and would therefore be much more valuable, the part might fail under strenuous application. Failure of a single component could have consequences far outweighing its 25-cent cost. The transistors tested at Rockwell had been marked to indicate suitability for use in the most rigorous applications; upon disassembly, the parts showed no indication of having undergone any of the extra testing signified by the external markings, which had increased the cost fivefold.
Although one trade organization (Electronics Industries Assn.) set up a task group to combat the problem of counterfeiting, "all sectors of the electronics industry are working against ... major procedures to alleviate counterfeiting," said the NYT report. At issue was the use of distributors, intermediary between producers and end users, who had a "heavy financial interest in maintaining the current system," the report said. Most semiconductor producers sold rejects to junk or surplus dealers for their metal content; the items not disfigured were a very inexpensive source for remarking, and could be introduced into the market as high quality low-cost items. Virtually all counterfeit components could be traced to the big defense contractors, said the NYT. Industry sources contended that `the DOD had loose procurement practices, with a purchasing-policy rule that component contracts must go to the lowest bidder. As a DESC spokesman pointed out, "We are simply not allowed to pay a premium price on any contract," even if the low bid is suspiciously below the going rate-"a strong indication that something may be wrong," the NYT noted. Accepted methods of the industry made it impossible to guarantee the authenticity of any part that did not come directly from the manufacturer, the report added. Although vendors had predicted that a 1974 DESC edict calling for a strict and immediate upgrading of tests on military-grade components would disrupt the supply, few problems had arisen after the regulations had taken effect. (NYT, 24 Oct 76, 3F; Newsweek, 25 Oct 76)
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